On the spot fines for not wearing a mask

[leafygarden42]

£200 for first time and can double up to £6,400!

link please? is this on the Tube? Because I have given up expecting anyone to wear masks on there.

Talk about half a story. Are you going to elaborate on this at all?

Here is a link. I doubt they will be able to enforce it. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/omicron-variant-mask-rules-london-tube-underground-b969081.html

We were discussing this on another thread. On paper it sounds great in practice completely unworkable. Unless you have police in every shop.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4414533-Mask-wearing-legalities

GIven the Tories have cut so many police officers they can make as many laws as they want, it is just hot air.

Hope someone fines Johnson the stupid arse next time he cba to wear a mask.

I wouldn't dare ask anyone to wear a mask if they weren't. Though I need to take the Tube almost daily and DS has to take it daily.

It’s not about policing every shop or train , or fining every non-mask wearers though, is it? It’s about enforcing fines where police ARE able to be, which then creates a climate in which the populace are unsure of whether/where/when they’re going to bump into an officer, so they comply at all times.

It’s like not picking up dog shit or speeding- some people are always going to break the law, a percentage of them will get caught, but not all.

Some won’t wear them still, of course, but most people are generally inclined to follow rules so it will increase compliance rates generally.

The government website says that legally you don't need to wear a face mask so I can't see these fines being enforceable.

I’ve worn my mask on the tube the entire time but I can tell you that this morning it was about 60 percent no wearing one - including most of the LU milling around the stations 🤷‍♀️

@VaguelyInteresting

It’s not about policing every shop or train , or fining every non-mask wearers though, is it? It’s about enforcing fines where police ARE able to be, which then creates a climate in which the populace are unsure of whether/where/when they’re going to bump into an officer, so they comply at all times.

It’s like not picking up dog shit or speeding- some people are always going to break the law, a percentage of them will get caught, but not all.

Some won’t wear them still, of course, but most people are generally inclined to follow rules so it will increase compliance rates generally.

It’s difficult to imagine a situation where a non mask wearer would get a fine from the police in a shop. Maybe on public transport slightly more believable. Nobody is exempt from a speeding fine but that’s the argument that will arise re masks.

LU staff i meant

All you have to do is say I’m exempt and job done. They can’t ask questions or for proof. I suspect be even more exempt this time around. If they say F-you there’s no such thing as covid I’m not wearing a face nappy then they will be free to fine I imagine.

I said this on other threads but last year you could but 4 pin badges for 99p from Hone Bargains saying ‘mask exempt’. Job done.

Buy

It’s about enforcing fines where police ARE able to be, which then creates a climate in which the populace are unsure of whether/where/when they’re going to bump into an officer, so they comply at all times.

I am aware we uncontroversially have this approach to coercing the population into behaving a certain way in many other respects (handheld speed cameras, bobbies on the beat, at a push stop and search) but when you write it down like that its quite a grim thought. People walk around worried they're going to be punished which makes them do something they might not want to do.

During the first lockdown when supermarkets were still open and you had to queue outside due to max number restrictions, they employed security guards monitoring people in and out and asking about masks. They’re gone now.

@Lipsandlashes

Um no - I'm not going to elaborate.

I'm not writing an essay in an exam. I came across a news item that I thought was interesting.

That's it

This was the same when the mandate was last in place. However if somebody is exempt then they are not going to be fined, nor are people allowed to ask for details of exemption. Just more fear being stirred up by the media.

As much as I do support mask wearing I think this government will be hard pressed to get public support for enforced mask wearing and potentially travel limitations again, given how many times their own advisers and ministers were found to have flouted the rules.

Where we are, more people have been voluntarily wearing them since news of the new variant appeared. It’s very noticeable.

@Akire

All you have to do is say I’m exempt and job done. They can’t ask questions or for proof. I suspect be even more exempt this time around. If they say F-you there’s no such thing as covid I’m not wearing a face nappy then they will be free to fine I imagine.

Yup. If a person claims to be exempt due to trauma, there is no way of proving otherwise. Anyone who is fined and who chooses to challenge the fine rather than pay it will have this option open to them. It is unworkable, and would be so even if there were anything remotely approaching enough police to enforce it.

Do Tory MPs not use the Tube?

It's ridiculous how few people in England wear masks.

I live in Portugal. You very literally cannot cross the threshold of any premise without a mask. Or any form of transport. Many wear them outside. No exemptions. All seem able and willing to comply!

What is WRONG with England?

They could only possibly apply this when people bang on about how they won't wear a face nappy etc.